a fated mask
by sparks and ink marks
Summary: 'Find a mask and wear it well so your true identity no one can tell' king alfor is throwing a ball for his oldest daughter alluras 18th birthday. Allura has hopes that she will find a man at this dance, she also hopes that her two younger siblings lance and Katie will find love as well. feelings blossom between unlikely pairs, however, this comes with unforeseen consequences
1. Chapter 1

'Find a mask and wear it well so your true identity no one can tell'

"ugh, i miss my long hair" Katie groaned looking in the mirror at herself.

"you were the one who said you wanted it short, " her older sister allura said rolling her eyes while brushing the younger girls hair

Katie huffed "yeah yeah," she said with an annoyed sigh "but why did I say that "

allura shook her head " I cant read your childish mind now can i " she said accidentally dropping the golden brush onto the floor

"you dropped something " Katie laughed as allura bent down to pick up the brush. allura placed the brush on the dresser making the young girl turn to look at the older girl

"I noticed," allura said putting her hands on her younger sisters checks and squishing them together, Katie blushes a little trying to grab a hold of alluras arms. grabbing a hold of alluras arms she gently tugs at them making allura move her hands

"the only one who can do that is ke-" she started but stopped herself but allura herd it making her smirk, Katie, or pidge as she liked to be known, never really seemed like the girly type so her having a crush was something rare and of course, allura wanted to take advantage of this

"what was that? "

pidges eyes widened realising that allura had herd her "n-nothing " she coughed before pouting and sitting up straight in the chair and looking at herself in the mirror again "make me beautiful"

allura blinked at the sudden outburst from the girl but quickly recovered from it and her smooth demeanour returned "then I don't need to do anything "she smiled resting her chin on pidges shoulder and looking at the two of them in the mirror

pidge cocked her head sideways "repeat that ? " she asked unsure of what she had actually herd

"I don't need to do anything to making you pretty Katie" allura smiled removing her chin from pidges shoulders and replacing them with her hands

pidge cleared her throat "why is that? " she asked looking at allura through the mirror. katie had never really seen herself as pretty, sure she knew she was appealing, appealing enough to have boys look at her when she walked past however she thought that was just because she was a princess

allura put her hands on Katies checks "you mothers eyes, fathers face and my lips " she smiled at the girl "all the best parts"

katie blushed "r-really" she smiled, her eyes lighting up with awe and amazement

allura giggled while getting closer to pidges face"yeah, you'll find a lucky guy someday " she whispered in the girl's ear

katie blushed a deep crimson red "wh-what" she was starting to feel nervous all of a sudden "all-allura are you out of your mind?" she spluttered out allura giggled

teasing Katie was something that allura would do from time to time but she did still love her of course, she still loved her sister but always being nice was a tad bit boring "hopefully at least" allura giggled

katie laughs nervously "he...he..yeah..." she cleared her throat " I hope as well, I guess " she mumbled

"im serious"

"I know.. I know" she looked away "I know.."

allura nudged the girl "so have you got your eye on anyone in the kingdom ? " she said following her sisters gaze "or perhaps someone in a neighbouring kingdom?"

"I haven't really seen anyone " pidge shrugged "who knows maybe I'll know the guy when I see them at the ball"

"love at first sight? like Romeo and Juliet? " allura said playing with the girl's hair. it was no secret that allura loved to read, she loved going to these far off places where the prince always saves the princess. she definitely didn't want to end up like most girls did, using their bodies to beg for money, it was disgusting to see them sell themselves so low like that.

however, that was how the world worked, the women were nothing more than property that could be sold to the highest bidder. women were the second-hand people, let the men do the important things the women need to be kept safe.

"who and who? allura I think you forget I don't read as much as you" Katie said looking back at her sister

"a book im in the middle of about star-crossed lovers in Verona" allura sighed happily but shakes her head before she started daydreaming about her book again which she seemed to find herself doing a lot of the time lately "are you sure you don't like anyone pidge , you can tell me lance never tells me anything"

katie turns to look at her older sister "yeah I think Lance has secrets " she says smiling again"makes me wonder what he's hiding"

"perhaps we should just leave lance to do his thing " allura suggested knowing her brother liked his privacy "but on the other side me and him used to be so much closer as children"

pidge looked at the girl once again cocking her head sideways "you did ?" allura nodded at her slowly "close? I would have never thought that of you two given how much you interact now"

allura giggled slightly "we do talk sometimes in the hallway when we pass, im just mostly in here reading" she sighed looking over to her book shelf before looking back to Katie "it was while Lance was still a toddler, I would take care of him. actually, it was more like me dressing him up"

"you took care of lance? "

"and what are you implying here missy ?" allura teased

"I never really knew, where were our parents?"

"doing royal business, our maids were still there, of course, watching us but it was me who actually played with lance "

"so what happened when I came along?" pidge asked feeling her mood suddenly drop coming to the realisation that it might have been her fault that lance and allura weren't as close as they used to be

"well I was 6 and lance was 4 so at first we stayed close but we both grew up and grew apart so don't go thinking it was your fault, " allura said sensing her sister's mood simply from her tone of voice "boys tend to do that when they grow up anyway"

"he seems to have made a name for himself anyway," she said with a small smile tugging at the edges of her mouth

"what as the grump" allura smiled "the one girls swoon for, the cocky one? yeah what a name"

"no no no not that, " Katie said giving out a sigh "the thing is, with me being the youngest all the names have been taken. your the smart one, you would obviously be diplomatic. lance is the handsome one, who would be dumb enough to resist him anyway " she looked away from allura again "all I really have left is marriage, I don't really want that, not yet at least, not until I find the one, whoever that is" pidge said once again sighing

"i can imagine" allura said rubbing her own arm " I refused to have an arranged marriage, I want to get to know my future husband" she looked away "or wife " she mumbled the last part

"wife..." katie thought about that for a short while, being inside the castle for so long she didn't have an idea about what her sexuality even was . she had always just assumed that she would know when saw the 'one' . "hmm" she stood up

allura looked up at her and giggled "oh no, she has an idea "pidge turned to look at the girl with a confused look

" huh. no ideas, not yet " she said brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear "im going to bid you, farewell sister

"we share this room" allura smirked standing up

the girl's room was pretty big, the same size as the smaller ballroom that allura loved to dance during the late hours of the night when no one was awake to bug her

Katie however, when she had become more aware of colours, protested against the pink that allura had loved as a child. the fabric had been drapped above the beds due to alluras waking nightmares. a compromise was made for Katie, the pink fabric had been taken down and given to allura for dressmaking which seemed to be an upcoming passion of hers

"I guess I'll go outside, "Katie said walking over to the mahogany door " I need some air" she clutched the handle in her smaller hands for a few seconds before twisting it making it open. she lingered for a few seconds before walking out

allura let out a breath she didn't realise she was even holding in.

Katie briskly walked down the castle stares sure she enjoyed being around her sister but she seemed to enjoy being alone more.

before going to the door a thought occurred to her, she was hungry, no she was starving and needed food. not getting up for breakfast was really starting to hit her, and hit her hard it did.

she made a sharp turn and headed towards the kitchen

The kitchen was as busy as the local cattle market, due to allura 18th being less than 24 hours away shay and her husband, hunk, were swamped off their feet, more than normal

"shay can you pass me the spoon next to you " hunk said with his back to her. she looked at her hands for the spoon, it took her a few seconds before she found it, picked it up and pass it to him

"sure I can" she said smiling before going back to her own work

"thanks, honey"

"afternoon hunk, shay I was wondering if you had anything I could grab to snack on, im going out for a horse ride " both shay and hunk looked up at the new voice in the kitchen

"Hmm I think we have some pastries that you like, " shay said looking over at the oven. she took a quick sniff "your in luck they just finished" she walked over to the oven with pidge following slowly behind her . shay took the tray out and placed them down on one of the sides , pidge took one

"thank you shay"

"just be careful ridding princess" pidge nodded at her before making her way to the door . she emerged from the kitchen and a few seconds later bumped into someone

"sorry miranda" she said stepping back and looking up "oh hi allura fancy bumping into you here"

allura rolled her eyes "want to go out to town ? "

"i suppose that sounds fun " katie shrugged before taking a bite of her pastry


	2. Chapter 2

'every face wears a mask'

"we should put the hoods on though" allura said awkwardly shuffling around "i get really awkward when people notice me if it's nt needed"

"lance put the hoods away" pidge said looking up the stares before walking towards them "i guess we ask him" she said walking up the stares with allura following close behind

lance sat down on his bed and fell onto his back looking up at the decorated ceiling. "gosh is the ball really tomorrow night" he sighed "next thing they'll be asking me to mary " he closed his eyes and layed in the silence. this was nice, something he needed

his peace was inturpted by and soft and suble knock on his door "lance are you in there" the voice sounded refined easily telling of who it is . lance walked over to the door and opened it . allura was behind it along with katie

"allura was wondering where you put those hoods" the younger girl said bluntly casuing lance to frown

"uh just a sec" lance replied walking into his room, over to his wardrobe and attempted to reach the shelf but found he was too short "allura help, please"

after a few seconds allura was next to him . he pointed to where he had put them and she reached for them. she took them and walked a few steps away "thanks lance" she smiled placing the velvet red ridding hood on her head and drapping it around her shoulders

"so where are you two going?" he asked following allura who was walking towards the younger girl

"away from here" katie said with a bitter tone to her voice. katie and lance had never really gotten along well. lance had always assumed it was a youngest sibling thing. whatever the reason, lance always returned the hostile feelings whenever they were given

"she means we're going out" allura replied as katie walked away,lance sighed to himself

"keep an eye on midget" lance chuckled, pidge herd and kicked the wall in response

"your not funny"

lance groaned "were you invited into this"

"no but you were talking about me,im not deaf" she shouted from the other side of the wall before storming off

allura groaned to herself "just another day in paradise" she said walking out the door after pidge

"hey allura" lance called,he saw her poke her head back through the door "i'll probaly meet you in twon at some point" she nodded at him before walking off

lotor sat in his room looking at two suits that were being held up by one of his many maids "sorry axca but i've never really looked good in that shade of red" the woman nodded at him

"of course prince lotor" she said before closing the double doors leaving the prince alone. lotor who was still sat on his bed layed backwards on the covers and sighed to himself. he then smirked upon hearing the door to his room open

"your magesty," a voice said followed by the closing of the door. lotor sat up and got himself off of the bed . he stood up and greeted the people by bowing, the other two copied him as he rose

"sir you have recieve an invitation too a ball in alteia" the raven haired boy said rising but still keeping a hand close to his chest

"hmm, alteia" lotor replied considering it, he had only been to alteia once and he was far too young to have remembered it anyway "when is this ball, Keith?"

the boy who had been talking made eye contact with the prince "24 hours, sir " his arm seemed to be firmly placed on his chest . keith was young , youngest agent of marmoria infact. however his age did not hold him back from doing his job.

"will you be going your magesty" the other male said, lotor turned his attention to him

"but of course" he smirked "kuro i would have thought you knew how much i adore parties"

kuro nodded

"you two we're going into town to look for something you two can wear" lotor said making both the males look at him in suprise

"im sorry what sir" keith said watching as lotor walked over to his wardrobe

"im taking you two to the ball with me, my mother still has that little plot against that kingdom" the prince said going through his cloaks "or have you forgoten?" he turned to look at the other two , they both shock their heads making the prince smirk "good"

katie,or pidge as she prefered to be called, had already left by the time allura got into the courtyard. That hadn't supprised allura, pidge was an independent girl so it didn't overly worry allura that she had ran off.

allura made her way over to the horse stables where her horse would have been

"afternoon princess," a voice said making allura groan under her knights got on her nerves, they always seemed to treat her like she was a child, a child that always needed to be protected , constantly.

At first, as a child, it didnt bother her , but as she grew older she realised it was more patronisng than anything else, however,a few years ago a newer, younger, knight had her eye yet she hadn't had the confidence to tell anyone. Why ?

it was because of how frightened she was of people judging her, as a princess she was expected to fall for someone of a high status. she had been told from a young age that you should never tell the help you appreciate them let alone fall in love with them, Allura was certainly not one to be bothered by wealth but her parents and siblings were.

allura let out a sigh before she turned around and her cheeks became red "afternoon shirogganne " she said slightly curtsying

"ridding into town again" allura met his eyes and nodded, he chuckled "stay safe then, dont worry me now"

"i wont" she replied twirling a loose strand of her hair around one of her fingers

"if your not back by nightfall, i'll personaly lead a search party"

allura nodded at him "figured" she smiled at him before walking towards the stable with buterflies in her stomach


End file.
